More Like Him

Something you should know about me – I tend to frequently get EXTREMELY invested in new rhythms of life very quickly.

I could read something in a book, hear something in a podcast or in a conversation, see a flashy social media post that COMPLETELY makes me rethink how I’ve been living up until that moment (regarding my spiritual life, exercise, relationships, marriage, etc.). Just ask my friend, DJ, who has to hear me go on and on about a new meditative prayer practice or running workout that I’m freshly committed to basically every time we get together. I know this about myself; my wife, Sabrina, knows this about me; my friends know this to be true, and especially over the last couple of years, they’ve seen these new commitments shape me into the person I am today!

Case in point – one year and some change ago, while driving home from church, I saw the tail end of the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon climbing up the hill that is the 163 freeway that runs through Balboa Park. It IMMEDIATELY grabbed hold of my mind, the thought of “I HAVE TO DO THIS!” echoed off the walls of my psyche and I was COMMITTED. I remember – I got home, looked up marathon training plans, what shoes were best for training and racing, what running stores were in my neighborhood, started finding podcasts hosted by ultra-marathoners and iron-men record holders….

If it had to do with running… I DEVOURED it.

In my free time, I was looking at stats on my Strava account, planning tomorrow’s run, reading books on running and athlete biographies…. It was as if marathon prep became the very air I was breathing.

Fast forward through a year of this being pretty much every day of my life (I should say “our life”-- Sabrina put up with a LOT of rambling one-sided conversations on whether carbon fiber plated shoes or speed-plate shoes were going to be best) and marathon day came. I hit every hope for the race. I met amazing strangers who felt like life-long friends as we gave our collective all. It was one of the best days in my life.

Now – how does this tie into how I look at my walk within the way of Jesus?

I recently sat in the scripture of Psalm 115, which is a beautiful piece of scripture focused on trusting God, knowing that He is good, that He blesses us with life and breath and deserves our praise. It also hones in on IDOLS.

It reads like this:

Our God is in heaven… but their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands… those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

- Psalm 115:3, 4, 8

That last piece there – “those who make them and trust in them will become like them” -  I believe one of the most important things to glean from this scripture is that we BECOME what we WORSHIP.

We are what we put our time into, point our attention towards, spend our days with, read about, think about, watch, the list is seemingly endless. It’s that ageless phrase, show me your closest friends, and I’ll be able to tell you who you are. It’s seemingly obvious, the idea that what we give our lives to, we, too, become. I definitely found that with running and marathon training – I gave it days upon days of my last year – and it changed a lot of who I am and who people know me to be.

I can also see this in play in a slew of other pockets of my life, a lot of which I would be surprised if we all didn’t resonate with even just a little bit. A couple examples: How giving my time to the endless scroll of social media makes me an impatient, disconnected, technological dopamine addict; how over-focusing on our finances and always wanting more can make me a stressed out, controlling, ungrateful mess. We all, most likely, have our vices that we struggle with that end up turning us into who we are. It’s important for us to recognize these and flee from them, to the embrace of Jesus.

That’s the beauty to this – as we run to the Lord, as we spend time in prayer, silence and solitude with Him, as we spend time in His scriptures learning more about His heart and person, as we look to Him throughout each moment of every day – we become MORE like Him.

We walk through the process of sanctification! We live a life of refinement, where we point our lives towards the Father, and He consistently shapes us into someone that looks more and more like He does. Someone that is patient, kind, loving, full of grace and mercy, someone overflowing with compassion. I KNOW this is somebody I want to be – more and more every day. So, I constantly try to turn towards Jesus, to make that the PRIMARY rhythm of my life. I’ve had seasons on both ends of this spectrum, of proximity to the Father, and I’ve seen my wonder and joy and maturity flourish when He is my priority, and have seen my trust and compassion falter when I’ve made some aspects of this world my priorities.

I would challenge all of us, every morning, when we wake up, take a moment in prayer.

Set that time to instill and jumpstart that necessary rhythm of the day by immediately turning towards Him. Pray that He would be your first priority. “Pray ceaselessly”, as Anthony of the desert would say. It’s a muscle. We have to work it, we have to become accustomed to it, and eventually, I believe that it WILL become natural. We were MADE for it to be natural. That our immediate and constant state of being would be that of someone who is wanting to become, and is becoming, more and more like Jesus, with a heart after his.

One last piece I think is important: Following the race – my commitment PLUMMETED. I didn't stop running full on,  but my mileage dropped massively. I stopped reading, listening, learning. I figured it was just post-race exhaustion, but within this last month, I realized it was something more than that. I had crafted my identity and mind to be somebody “training to run a marathon”, not to be a “runner”. In our walk with Jesus, there is no “goal” to be met, no “finish line” we’re sprinting towards. It’s long obedience in the same direction. We’ll never reach perfection – only He can have that title – but we can work on getting closer to loving with a heart like His each and every day.

We’re not “training to BE Jesus one day”; we are on a long, beautiful, difficult, joyous road to becoming LIKE our Father, day by day.

Lord, may we love like You, may we show compassion like You, may we be present like You. May we become more and more like You, and may today be a day where we decide to keep our eyes fixed on You, our ears ready to listen for You, and our souls joyous to receive You. You are good. You are loving. You are for us. May we walk with that same intent today. Amen.

Ethan Rounds